South Africa\u2019s biggest challenge to meeting a target of vaccinating two-thirds of the adult population against Covid-19 has shifted from a shortage of supply to a lack of demand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are sitting in a situation where we don\u2019t have a vaccine constraint, at least for the next two months,\u201d Nicholas Crisp, deputy director-general in the department of health, said in an online briefing on Friday. \u201cNow we need vaccine demand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Africa\u2019s most industrialized nation opened its rollout of Pfizer Inc. and Johnson & Johnson doses to those between 35 and 49 years old last month, yet interest from that age group has not been sustained, Crisp said.<\/p>\n
An improvement has been seen in the over-60s, he said, and the number of people fully vaccinated is set to pass four million, out of an adult population of about 40 million.<\/p>\n
Vaccine hesitancy or outright opposition has been a barrier to ending the coronavirus pandemic all over the world, though may be a particular problem in South Africa.<\/p>\n